In this field the earlier safety container and closure units have been sufficiently difficult for children to open that they have met the U.S. Government poison prevention packaging standards.
Such earlier units have also met the U.S. Government poison prevention packaging standards minimum requirements for ease of ability of opening by adults.
However, other safety enclosure units, now in use, have all been very aggravating for adults to open in this busy life.
This is due to (1) the excessive complexity of motions required for opening; or (2) the amount of arm, shoulder, hand, and finger strength needed for opening. This is a special problem for the elderly, and for arthritic persons, and amputees. When totalled, these groups account for a very substantial number of medicine takers.
The new concept hereof is to provide a unit, the container of which can be squeezed forcing the closure out as accomplished by cooperating inclined services on the container and closure. If a vial could be squeezed from any side and still open, then there would be excessive danger that a child could accidentally squeeze it open as they experiment with it. A hinge attaching the closure to the container has been discovered to prevent a child from successfully squeezing the lid out when pressing on the hinge side of the container.
It is not necessary that 100% of the children tested find it unable to open a medicine vial. No system has been found that is childproof. For example: If 200 children, between the ages of 36 and 54 months, attempt to open a container and closure unit and if at least 80% cannot successfully open the unit, the unit will be approved.
The government standard for testing is to set a five minute limit for a first test in which a child is allowed to try to open a safety unit without any instruction or demonstration. The second phase of the same test is to set a five minute limit for a child to attempt to open a unit after the child has been shown a demonstration in which they see it opened by an adult, but without any explanation about how the opening is done. In this latter test, the squeeze type unit hereof can be demonstrated before the child's close inspection and yet the child will almost always fail to learn from the demonstration if the adult maintains one finger in a position above the enclosure to limit its degree of opening.
A new feature hereof is to provide a lid that is substantially at the same level on its outer side with the upper edges of the container to prevent opening by any gripping of the closure lid. Still another object is to provide a false lip projecting outwardly from the unit to distract the child into spending time trying to open the unit by pushing or pulling on the lip. Such a false lip is in a position such that force on it would have no effect on opening.
Arrows projecting from the side of the container indicate where to press and protrude sufficiently felt by persons with poor eyesight or in a darkened bedroom. The lid is printed with "squeeze arrows" or other indicia but neither the print or the meaning of the arrows are understandable to small children.
The lid can be printed with the words "cover lid lightly", printed above the "squeeze arrows" instruction, so that an adult can know to first place a finger in position to cover the lid lightly before squeezing . This is not necessary for opening, but prevents forceful expelling and spilling of contents.
Stiffening ribs extend from the hinge side of the lid to its opposite side and extend downwardly from, and are integral with, the underside of the lid. The ribs decrease flexibility and make it difficult for a child to press the container and lid sufficiently to propel the lid outward.
It is preferred that the ribs be not attached to the downwardly extending edge portions of the lid so they do not prevent right and left sides of the lid from easily moving inwardly for the desired opening deformation. If the ribs are attached to the forward and rearward sides of the downwardly extending circumferential lid flange, they will prevent the forward and rearward sides of the flange from moving away from each other as is desirable for opening.
It is also an objective to provide for a distraction tab extending outwardly from the container. It has been discovered that if the tab is disposed between two sections of the hinge it provides a crevice into which a child can insert a fingernail or even teeth in an attempt to pry the tab upward to try to open the lid. The child, however, cannot affect opening no matter how hard the child tries in pulling and pushing the tab.
Container designers and merchandisers sometimes prefer containers that are square in horizontal cross-section. Commonly such units have had the common screw-cap but with a rectangular lower part of the container much larger in horizontal cross-section. Such a construction cannot be injection molded because there is no way to withdraw the central part of the mold. Therefore, it is also an affect to provide an injection moldable container which has substantial parts of its surface rectangular in shape and which is also a safety container unit. This is accomplished with the use of the square part of the bottle smaller than the upper circular closure portion of the bottle.
Yet another objective is to provide for lesser thickness at the top of the container side wall, as accomplished by a taper so that the side wall flexes for ease of opening by arthritic and handicapped persons.
Another objective is to provide complimentary tapering also on the outer side of the downwardly extending lid flange for enhancing outward propulsion.
An objective is to provide an internal closure in a safety unit having a hinge connection.
Still another objective is to provide a one piece container and enclosure unit capable of meeting the U.S. Government poison prevention packaging standards.
A further objective is to provide a unit which is openable by squeezing.
Yet a further objective is to provide a safety unit in which a single motion is needed to gain access, and to eliminates cumbersome safety latches to make it possible for a person crippled with arthritis, or paralyzed, to open the container by biting.
A further objective is to eliminate the sharp locking latches of former safety units, as they wear away at weak, sharp corners and cease to lock.
Yet another objective is to provide a connection between the container and closure, which does not require twisting, turning, or rotation of a closure to achieve opening.
Another objective is to provide a safety container in which the lid fits inside the top of the container where a child cannot grip it.
An objective is to provide features designed to distract, puzzle, and baffle children.
Another objective is to provide a desirable safety unit openable without external mechanism.
A further objective is to provide a safety unit requiring only one continuous motion for release and expulsion of the lid, and more specifically, by a single squeeze motion.
Another objective is to provide a medicine container system which can be pressed against a desk top or doorway edge for emergency opening by a weak person, or which can be opened by a pinching between two hands, if there is not strength enough in one hand.
Another objective is to provide a safety vial that can yet be opened by a person with no hands by pressing on the vial hereof with the sides of ones wrists, and other comprehensive methods.
An objective hereof is to provide a safety unit having an interlocking means without sharp corners which can be worn away to ineffectiveness as a result of repeated operation of the easily worn away soft plastic parts.
Another objective is to provide a safety unit easily
Some safety containers-and-closure units heretofore having required multiple operations for their opening such as applying pressure to a closure to release a locking mechanism and simultaneously rotating the closure to unthread the closure. Others require the rotation of the closure with respect to the container body to align release points, after which The closure is removed. In some containers an unthreading step is also needed for closure removal.
Still another type of safety container requires pressure to be applied to release the engaging locking mechanisms whereby the closure and container body slide with respect to each other so that the closure may be removed.
Such earlier safety container units, all requiring multiple opening steps, have a disadvantage in that the closure and container must be molded separately, thus requiring more costly tooling and more separate-handling of containers and lids. Thus it is also an object of the present invention to avoid these problems of the prior art.
It is an objective of this invention to provide a safety container and lid unit that can be more economically and easily made of one piece of material. It is a further objective of the invention to provide a one-piece safety and lid unit container made of a single plastic material with an integrally formed hinge connecting the integrally formed closure and container body, providing economy by eliminating assembly steps and separate parts inventory and separate parts handling.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of this invention.